St. Louis Park to Vote on SWLRT Monday

Twin Cities residents could know in just over a week whether a current Southwest Light Rail Line plan will happen.

The 16-mile proposed project would run from downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie. It needs consent from all five cities it touches as well as Hennepin County.

Minnetonka and Hopkins already gave the project the OK; St. Louis park is next in line with a vote set for Monday.

Hennepin County will vote tomorrow afternoon. Minneapolis set-up a public hearing for tomorrow, but doesn't have a date set for a vote yet. Eden Prairie is voting next Monday.

Hennepin County is tight-lipped about which way the commissioners will vote.

Eden Prairie's Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens says her sense is the city council will likely sign on, but she doesn't know which way each council member will vote.

Minneapolis is the wild card here, that city council has been the most critical of the plan, and that makes proponents of the line nervous.

Even if all players consent, a controversial piece of the debate could re-develop down the road.

Jami LaPray of St. Louis Park, and the group, "Safety in the Park" says changes to the plan later on could be problematic.

"Worse case scenario is that in a couple of years -- 5, 10 years -- Hennepin County, MnDOT, some other group will decide, 'Hmmm, maybe we need to get that freight out of Kenilworth Corridor,' and they revisit rerouting," LaPray said.

Minneapolis leaders have been the most critical of the current plan; they're the only ones who have yet to schedule a vote. However, a public hearing is happening Tuesday.